President Donald Trump’s Department of State is reportedly weighing closing nearly 30 embassies and consulates as part of its plan to massively reduce the agency’s budget.
State Department memos obtained by the New York Post and several other outlets revealed that the agency outlined a strategy to slash its spending by $26 billion in the upcoming fiscal year. The latest draft budget proposal suggested cutting the agency’s funds by nearly half compared to the previous fiscal year.
‘The president has made it clear that he is committed to cutting the federal deficit and improving the return on investment for the American people.’
The agency would endeavor to achieve these savings by reducing diplomatic engagement work by $4.5 billion and terminating $21.5 billion in foreign assistance, the Post reported. The document weighed slashing funding to the United Nations and NATO.
Additionally, the memo floated closing at least 17 consulates and 10 embassies, including posts in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, South Korea, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta, Maldives, Grenada, Luxembourg, Lesotho, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan.
One center in Iraq was listed for potential closure, and two others may see expenditures “drastically” reduced.
The proposed downsizing also considered consolidating outposts in countries with multiple consulates, such as Japan and Canada.
A State Department spokesperson told the Post, “The president has made it clear that he is committed to cutting the federal deficit and improving the return on investment for the American people.”
“As the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has said, the administration’s funding decisions will be reflected in the President’s Budget Request that will be provided to Congress soon,” the spokesperson said.
The closures have not yet been announced, “and operations continue as normal,” the representative added.
Tammy Bruce, a spokesperson for the department, suggested to CNN that reporting regarding the State Department memos was inaccurate.
“I would suggest that you check with the White House and the president of the U.S. as they continue to work on their budget plan and what they submit to Congress,” Bruce told the news outlet. “The kinds of numbers and what we tend to see is reporting that is early or wrong, based on leaked documents from somewhere unknown.”
During a Tuesday briefing, Bruce noted that there was “no final plan” on the yearly budget and any cost-cutting decisions would be “up to the White House.”
“I can tell you that whatever you’ve seen in public was not released from this entity, was not released from this department. It was not released by the secretary,” she said.
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